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Actual Mileage for Ford Escape Hybrid

Hi Peter H

If you don't have the Nav display, you might want to buy a scangauge for $129 that plugs in above the brake pedal and sit on the dash. It can scan for trouble codes and reset warning lights. It give you so many gauges (can read 4 at a time) like instant MPG, engine load, coolant temp and manifold presure. See scangauge.com for details. My driving is extreme city and I have got over 58mpg on 23 mile round trips with my FWD FEH.

The Charge/Assist gauge gives more info than most think. When you let off the gas pedal, not only does the RPM drop, but you get a big regen charge to the HV battery (I call this the Fake Shift). You can pump up the battery accelerating very slowly (300-400rpm's higher or between 1,100 and 1,800 max) in about 1 mile at 30mph. Anytime you see the assist needle move with the ICE ON, you are at MAX LOAD (99%) of the ICE at that RPM. I try to stay under 90% load while accelerating but 70-80% load is where I try to accelerate. The AWD will have a harder time I would think to maintain these % loads.

The double tap to go EV works fine for me in Drive ("D") under 40mph, but if the HV battery is in an Overcharge State, I shift to Neutral ("N") and tap till it goes EV. The other way to go EV at or under 40mph is to shift to "L" at 43mph and let off the gas. "L" will cause EV under 40mph unless there is an overcharged battery. "L" is not a gear, it is the regen braking of the traction motor with no brake pad friction. Instead of trying to increase EV speed to the max from a stand, go EV below 40mph and coast to 30-35mph and stay EV with tire pressure at 44psi. Try this: Set your Cruise at 30mph, increase speed to 43mph and shift to "L", let off the gas pedal. At 40mph you will see the tach start to drop and then shift back to "D". Coast down to the preset cruise in EV and the FEH should gently stay at 30mph in EV. My FWD FEH can be set between 30-37mph on flat roads.

Always keep RPM's below 2,000 RPM's if posible by using the fake shift method. This will help set the eCVT in an overdrive mode. To charge the HV battery, keep the RPM's as low as posible and use the fake shifts. After you let off the gas pedal and RPM's drop to around 1,100, slowly in crease RPM's to around 1,800 and let off again. You can pump up the battery (soc) from the bottom to the top in a little over a mile at 25-40mph.

As far as coasting, you can chop as much as 38% less drag on the powertain by shifting to "N" in EV or ICE ON. There will be no regen in "N" but with the ICE ON, you will get regular generator charging. Gliding in "N" is safe because there is no torque converter.

Many of my FEH question were answered in the patents, Helms Shop Manuals and FEH articles I've bookmarked. Any more question just ask?

Actual Mileage for Ford Escape Hybrid

the following post is on another thread but thought it was more appropriate here:

Gary, Thanks again for the valuble advice. Bought the '05 FEH last night. Still learning all the ins and outs but have been able to engage EV mode more and more with your astute advice. Managed to get it to go half way up my 1/4 mile driveway in EV mode. That is so cool to go uphill and burn no gas.
I did get some wheel spin however at one point as my driveway is being undermined by a seasonal spring. I got off the pedal immediately, the ICE was on at that time, I slowly eased on the pedal again and the wheels did not spin anymore. I would be very interested in hearing other people's stories regarding the 4x4 system on their FEH. Wheelspin of course contributing to lower mpg. Yes the energydisplay is pretty darn handy Gary, it really is teaching me how to modulate my pedal pressure and when. Thanks to everyone who has posted info on this link it has been a great learning experience reading through it. I'll try to post things here if I come up with anything to note. My home 800 feet above the surrounding towns requires going uphill everydayto go home, which I am begining to suspect is going to hurt my hypermile numbers. So far my test drive off the car lot was my best mpg by the display of 29.5 mpg. Today was 28.5 on a trip to a town 40 miles away, mostly rural hwy miles, speed not over 62mph, temps in the 50's, no rain, no real wind but some serious traffic problems on the road at times not allowing me to maximize the throttle feathering.
I'm looking forward to seeing what my commute is going to average in the end.

Actual Mileage for Ford Escape Hybrid

What about tire pressure? Gary has written about using 44 psi in his 2WD. The placard on the door of my 4WD says 35psi. Anyone running above spec have any comments on performance, tire wear, traction on or off rd? I plan to bump mine from 34 to 38 cold and see what this does if anything.
Anybody running other than stock tires?

Actual Mileage for Ford Escape Hybrid

Just thought I'd add my 2 cents here. I've had my Ford FWD Escape since January 1. I get an average of 27 MPG in the city, and 32 on the highway. I think that's just opposite of what I'm supposed to be experiencing. I've come up with the theory that my in town mileage isn't as it should be, because I make very short trips. Everywhere I go in town is about 1-3 miles away, so the car rarely gets an opportunity to warm up before it's shut down. Anybody have any input on that?
Donna
California

Actual Mileage for Ford Escape Hybrid

Donna, it sounds like you have good driving skills from the highway mileage you get. Short trips are a killer on mpg period. What I do on short trips with the engine cold, is pulse (get above speed limit slowly) and glide in neutral to a reasonable speed and repeat. If you are getting 10-18mpg warming up, your coast may get you 50mpg for the same distance. The average will come out better and you charge the HV battery with the generator. The warm up is the worst part for FE.

Actual Mileage for Ford Escape Hybrid

Donna, placing the shifter in "N" is what I meant. This takes the load off the gear set and you can coast 38% further than in "D" with the ICE at idle or up to 1,500 RPM's when the battery needs a charge by the generator. Keep your stock tires at 44psi. This is all safe in the FEH, but other cars with a torque converter should not do it. The manual states that the FEH can be towed up to 75MPH in neutral with all four wheels on the road. This makes the FEH a good vehicle for motor homes that pull a smaller vehicle behind them.

Actual Mileage for Ford Escape Hybrid

Wow, that's pretty bad, I thought I was doing really badly until I read this thread. I just put the first tank of gas in my new Escape HEV front wheel drive, and got 29 mpg. This agrees with what the averages were telling me, pretty much, but not great. Maybe I'll check the tires, make sure they're up to 44 psi.

Anyone have advice on lubricants or other tweaks? Anyone working on a PHEV hack? I do some very short trips, and being able to pre-charge the battery and select engine off for those trips might get me up over 50 mpg.

In general, pretty happy with it, surprised that the heater works with the engine off. Would be nice if you could do a PHEV conversion and pre-heat the car like the THiNK EV.

Actual Mileage for Ford Escape Hybrid

Hi Chad:

You can't go by the gas you add to the tank. The tank in the FEH is so screwed up that you can forget about a MPG reading period. After going 21,000 miles, every reading is so screwed up you will never know your MPG.
Get a scangauge and you will find this out with the fuel burned reading much better. After comparing the scangauge with the Nav computer, they read much the same. Go to http://scangauge.com/ and get yourself a $130 gauge that plug in near your brake pedal that will be the best investment you will ever make.

Forget about charging your battery with a plug in charger. If you learn the fake shift in "L", you may hit the kind of mileage I'm getting (50 -55mpg city tank) in my FWD FEH.